Is reflecting sunlight a good climate backup plan? | Vikrant Sapkota | TEDxPSU
In this insightful talk, Vikrant Sapkota, PhD candidate, in climate science explores three key strategies to tackle climate change and limit global warming to 1.5°C. The talk breaks down Plan A (cutting emissions), Plan B (Carbon Dioxide Removal), and Plan C (Sunlight Reflection Methods, with a focus on Stratospheric Aerosol Injection). While Plan C offers a potential short-term solution to cool the planet, the speaker highlights the need for more research and careful consideration of its risks and ethical concerns. The talk emphasizes the importance of not relying solely on quick fixes and prioritizing long-term climate action, including aggressive emissions reductions. ikrant Sapkota is a dual-title PhD candidate in Climate Science and Meteorology at Penn State University, specializing in leveraging observational datasets and climate models to understand uncertainties in future climate change projections. He serves as the Vice President of the Science Policy Society at Penn State and represented the university as the graduate student delegate at COP28, the 2023 UN Climate Change Conference in Dubai. Vikrant has also worked as a Graduate High-Performance Computing Consultant, where he assisted departments across Penn State with their software and programming needs. He was awarded the Graduate Research Innovation Award from the Joint Fire Science Program and the Best Poster Award at the 2024 National Science Policy Symposium. He is deeply interested in the intersection of climate, public policy, and technology, with a focus on exploring innovative solutions like sunlight reflection methods to address climate change. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx
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